Anything but Normal
by GravityNeko
Summary: One-shot: Mara contemplates the meaning beyond Luke's gift of his father's lightsaber-and jumps to some interesting conclusions.


**A/N: Okay, this idea came from Jedi-Lover's fic, "Alter of Waru", around Ch. 9 I think. Entire credit/original idea goes to her. But I thank her for letting me do this. **

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Mara sat crossed-legged on her bed and stared at the ligthsaber as if it were some snake waiting to strike at her. She couldn't understand it at all! How in the worlds did she come to possess this ligthsaber!? Of course, she'd accepted it-and even now she was questioning why she had.

Why had she been so dumb enough to accept it!? This wasn't a nameless trinket, this was a family heirloom! She shouldn't have accepted it! Its mere presence confused the hell out of her and she didn't like it one bit!

No, she wasn't to blame! It was Skywalker. How could he have given his father's ligthsaber away as if it were nothing? She couldn't even begin to wrap her brain around that carefree yet casual act. Wasn't he thinking clearly?!

Mara bit her lip, half attempted to go and hand it back to him.

Who was she to have something so precious? She was the Emperor's Hand, that's who she was. She shook her head. No, she wasn't that person anymore!

Luke wouldn't have given something so precious to the Emperor's Hand. But he would to "just Mara Jade", wouldn't he? His friend. Isn't that what he had thought of her as?

She frowned. Somehow, she doubted Luke would even give it to a friend. So, what was going on?

"Argh!" She growled and got up, frustrated.

Mara paced around and glared at the now-offensive item. She stopped her pacing for awhile and bent over to pick it up, turning it in her hand.

"You don't just give this away. What's wrong with you!?"

Something so special, yet he had given it to her. Not the Emperor's Hand.

"But I wanted to kill him! I tried to! I told his sister!" She shouted. "Why, would he give this to me?"

She was _not _that person anymore! _But you were._ And he had trusted her with something so precious. His father's ligthsaber. What did it all mean?

She sat down. "You don't give your father's ligthsaber to a friend, Skywalker. We barely know each other." Mara whispered. "Why would you give this to me? This is special to you. I thought it was…"

Not a friend.

A thought occurred in her mind.

No, even Skywalker wasn't so careless with something so special. He was naïve and good, but not dumb.

Not a friend—but perhaps….more than a friend? She drew in a sharp breath at the thought.

No, that was impossible! She stopped to ponder this. Or was it? Was this a sign? She turned the weapon over in her hand, examining it, feeling it, and soaking in its meaning.

"A sign." She murmured. A sign of another step. The next level to their relationship. Was this ligthsaber a symbol to the bond beyond mere friends?

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

"Beyond friends." Lovers?

Did Luke want something for from her beside friendship? Her heart rate sped up, the organ threatening to burst from her chest.

Her chest suddenly felt tight and she couldn't breathe.

"Lovers."

No, not lovers. Not with him... This lightsaber symbolized a step beyond mere lovers. Skywalker wouldn't give his father's lightsaber to someone he considered a causal fling, that she was sure of!

His train of thought bordered on something more meaningful. Something serious. Something cemented in time.

Something that would last forever.

"Does he…want that kind of a relationship?" She whispered again.

Wedding bells and white dresses. Children and promises of forever.

She pressed the saber to her breast. The latter part scared her and she truly wasn't ready for that. Yet, she couldn't help but feel elated.

This was sign; he wanted to further their relationship.

For the first time in awhile, tears came to her eyes. She knuckled them away. This feeling, it was so strange. Her heart felt so full and a warm feeling coursed through her body.

"Damn you, Farmboy. Why couldn't you just ask me the normal way?"

Oh, who was she kidding? Luke Skywalker was anything but "normal".

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**A/N: Wipes eyes. Okay, that made me cry. That's a good thing btw. Please review if you enjoyed this!**


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